Thai nationals held captive by Hamas for 15 months return home

Bangkok: Five Thai nationals held captive by Hamas for over a year returned to Thailand on Sunday, reuniting with their tearful families at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport.

The returnees, dressed in winter jackets, were met with emotional embraces from their families.

"We are all deeply touched to come back to our birthplace ... to be standing here," said Pongsak Thaenna, one of the returnees. "I don't know what else to say, we are all truly thankful."

According to Israeli authorities, Hamas militants abducted at least 240 people, including Israelis and foreign nationals, in an October 2023 attack on the Israeli border. During the attack, Hamas gunmen killed 41 Thais and kidnapped 30 Thai labourers. Later that year, the first group of Thai hostages was returned.

Thai Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa, who escorted the hostages back from Israel, expressed relief at their return. "This is emotional ... to come back to the embrace of their families," he said. "We never gave up and this was the fruit of that."

Before the conflict, approximately 30,000 Thai labourers worked in Israel's agriculture sector, making them one of the largest migrant worker groups in the country. Nearly 9,000 Thais were repatriated following the attack.

The workers primarily come from Thailand's northeastern region, an area comprising villages and farming communities that is among the poorest in the country.

Thailand's foreign ministry said a Thai national is still believed to be held captive by Hamas.

"We still have hope and continue to work to bring them back," Maris said, adding that this includes the bodies of two deceased Thai nationals.